Day of National Healing: November 9, 2016

by Bob Schwartz

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And all the world will live as oneJohn Lennon, Imagine

I declare November 9 a Day of National Healing.

Please stop snickering. Or pitying my naiveté in the face of so many unpleasant realities.

Our need for national healing is massive. Huge. We are literally sick and tired of this election. The thought going around, and it is not ridiculous and I’ve said it myself, is that things may actually get worse after the election.

Another thought, also not ridiculous, is that we might still want to find a way through this. In fact, we have to. If we are sincere about getting on with our lives, personal and national, we have got to start somewhere, sometime. The day after Election Day seems as good a time as any.

I am inspired and informed, as I often am, by the I Ching. Here is what the text says to us today:

Hexagram 38
Kui/Diversity

Diversity.
Little things:
Good fortune.

All beings diversify,
But their functions are the same.
Great indeed is the time and significance of diversity.

The superior person seeks common ground on major issues
While reserving differences on minor ones.

“In the course of diversifying, there is still similarity—this is the unique wisdom of the I Ching….Diversity is natural and unavoidable. The key is in seeking harmony. To the Chinese, all diversity can be harmonized, no matter whether it is between members of a household, or members of a society, or between nations of the world. The clue lies in one’s attitude. If both sides are willing to come together in sincerity and truthfulness, no problem cannot be solved.” (Alfred Huang)

In one sense, it is hard to see how the day after the election will be an unconditionally good day for many people. Millions will celebrate having avoided whatever horror they foresaw, millions of others will plan ways to deal with the horror they see taking place. That is not a formula for healing.

We have got to try something, something else than what we’ve been experiencing. A new way on November 9 can’t come soon enough.